William Hill's Nevada in-person and mobile sportsbooks back online after three-day shutdown

The William Hill and Caesars Sportsbook mobile sports betting apps went back online on Wednesday night after a poorly-timed outage that took place during Super Bowl on Sunday. William Hill Nevada in-person sportsbooks, which also crashed down during the big game, were back in working order earlier this week, meaning now both the company's retail and online options are operational in the Silver State.

Late Wednesday, customers received an email from William Hill and Caesars Sportsbook informing them their accounts were available again after the 72-hour shutdown. The companies said they were offering two $50 bonus sports bets to customers for the inconvenience, the first of which was added to accounts Wednesday. The first $50 in bets must be made by Feb. 28 to receive the second, which will be added on March 1 and must be used by March 15.

“We sincerely apologize for the frustration and inconvenience the app outage caused,” the email sent Wednesday said. Before the apps began to work again, visitors to the William Hill app were greeted with a message on the landing page that reads: “We are currently undergoing our nightly maintenance period. Account access is temporarily disabled. We apologize for any inconvenience caused. Please try again later.”

The Nevada Gaming Control Board said Monday that board agents from the Enforcement and Technology Division were investigating the matter. The William Hill Nevada sports betting platform experienced what the company labeled as "an unforeseen technical issue" towards the end of the second quarter of Super Bowl LVII, which took down both the company's app and retail sportsbooks in the state.

Casino and gaming giant Caesars Entertainment is the parent company of William Hill, having bought out the bookmaker in 2021. William Hill operates both the Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill and William Hill Nevada apps. The poorly-timed outage took place during the busiest sports betting day of the year in the US, leaving countless bettors unable to wager on the game.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board said state sportsbooks handled $153 million in wagers on this year's big game. While the figure falls short of last year’s record tally, amid heightened competition from other states, the sports betting action still proved lucrative for many operators, including MGM Resorts, which said it set a new company record for Nevada with the highest Super Bowl handle in history.

According to analysts, the overall above-average Super Bowl hold rate for US online sports betting sites sets some operators to issue stronger-than-anticipated guidance alongside their upcoming earnings reports. However, with William Hill fumbling the big game, the loss of activity could come up in their Q1 report.

This is not the first time the William Hill and Caesars Sportsbook mobile betting apps have crashed at an inopportune time, notes Las Vegas Review-Journal. In September 2021, minutes before the kickoff of nine NFL season openers, the apps went down and bettors were locked out of their accounts until after the games started. To make up for that inconvenience, the books offered customers two free $25 sports bets.